Important Notice

Though his work is almost always figurative and rooted in very real experiences and beliefs, Manjit Bawa’s men, women, gods and animals, suspended wondrously in colourful space, are rendered with a simple fluidity that borders on the abstract. Rather than brushstroke and texture, Bawa relies on chiaroscuro and subtle shading to deliver depth to his canvases; and rather than developing a narrative, the artist focuses on perfecting form by paring... Though his work is almost always figurative and rooted in very real experiences and beliefs, Manjit Bawa’s men, women, gods and animals, suspended wondrously in colourful space, are rendered with a simple fluidity that borders on the abstract. Rather than brushstroke and texture, Bawa relies on chiaroscuro and subtle shading to deliver depth to his canvases; and rather than developing a narrative, the artist focuses on perfecting form by paring it down to its most basic essence. Though this may seem a naïve aesthetic, these characteristics come together to give his paintings an arresting luminosity, and his characters a dreamlike presence.

Born and raised in rural Punjab, Bawa absorbed the religion, culture, and natural environs of his birthplace, translating them into striking icons on his canvases. The artist’s use of rich hues and homogenous fields of saturated colour, and his outright rejection of superfluous details, is influenced both by Rajput and Pahari miniature painting and his formal training in silkscreen printing.

In the present lot, a canvas of epic proportions, an ascetic male figure dominates the frame, his bluish skin prominent against its saturated mustard yellow ground. In the distance, an observant lioness stands guard over his prone body, possibly referencing the passages in the Bhagavad Gita where the blue-skinned Krishna introduces himself as ‘Hari’ or lion, and where he states that his divine manifestation in the animal kingdom is the lion.

The artist’s emphasis on human-animal interactions and relationships also highlight his lifelong interest in asymmetrical relationships, like the one he shared with his autistic son, and the novel means of communication through which such differences might be overcome. As Ranjit Hoskote notes, “…in Bawa’s paintings, humans and animals engage in a wordless dialogue that throws its participants back onto an older, nearly forgotten language of instinct and intuition. Standing before these paintings, we realize that Bawa has long been preoccupied with the theme of a universal language of communication. How, he appears to ask, do humans and animals account for one another’s presence, share their responses? Bawa’s question unveils a deeper disquietude: how can two beings, who share the same physical environment but occupy separate mental universes, compare their respective experiences of the world?” (Manjit Bawa: Modern Miniatures, Recent Paintings, Bose Pacia exhibition catalogue, New York, 2000, not paginated).

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